Sunday, November 14, 2010

On November 10, President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing within the Department of Homeland Security an interagency Federal Export Enforcement Coordination Center (Center). The Executive Order stated that the Center "shall coordinate on matters relating to export enforcement among" seven executive branch departments (i.e., the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, Justice, State,and the Treasury), as well as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and other executive branch departments and agencies as the President may designate.

The Executive Order also specified that the Center's functions will include "(a) serv[ing] as the primary forum within the Federal Government for executive departments and agencies to coordinate and enhance their export control enforcement efforts and identify and resolve conflicts that have not been otherwise resolved in criminal and administrative investigations and actions involving violations of U.S. export control laws; (b) serv[ing] as a conduit between Federal law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Intelligence Community for the exchange of information related to potential U.S. export control violations; (c) serv[ing] as a primary point of contact between enforcement authorities and agencies engaged in export licensing; (d) coordinat[ing] law enforcement public outreach activities related to U.S. export controls; and (e) establish[ing] Government wide statistical tracking capabilities for U.S. criminal and administrative export control enforcement activities, to be conducted by the Department of Homeland Security with information provided by and shared with all relevant departments and agencies participating in the Center." (See the August 31 Notice and Commentpost that first mentioned the President's intention to create the Center.)